Sorrow

Album: High Violet (2010)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Frontman Matt Berninger told The Quietus: "I think is a fun song, a celebration of sorrow. It's a wallowing song."
  • Berninger expanded on the song to Spinner UK: "'Sorrow' is, in some ways, a person's relationship with their own sadness. In many ways they have a very loving and needy relationship with their sadness. That one's maybe not particularly about me - it's a little bit about Bryan our drummer, it's a little bit about my brother."
  • The National performed the song continuously for six hours as part of an art piece conceived by Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson. The event, cheekily titled "A Lot of Sorrow," was held on May 5, 2013 in the Long Island City museum's VW Dome. "Our performance was weird," Berninger told UK newspaper The Independent. "We played 'Sorrow' 108 times and around the 98th or 99th time I choked up a little bit... It wasn't a painful process – I think we found it a bonding thing; one of the best experiences we've had together as a band. We won't do it again, though."
  • Sorrow found me when I was young
    Sorrow waited, sorrow won.


    Matt Berninger explained the lyric to The Guardian: "I've always struggled with a pretty normal level of anxiety and depression. I remember 12 being one of those years – I got the s--t kicked out of me by a bunch of kids."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Evolution Of The Prince Symbol

Evolution Of The Prince SymbolSong Writing

The evolution of the symbol that was Prince's name from 1993-2000.

Peter Lord

Peter LordSongwriter Interviews

You may not recognize his name, but you will certainly recognize Peter Lord's songs. He wrote the bevy of hits from Paula Abdul's second album, Spellbound.

Don Dokken

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.

Carol Kaye

Carol KayeSongwriter Interviews

A top session musician, Carol played on hundreds of hits by The Beach Boys, The Monkees, Frank Sinatra and many others.

Jon Anderson of Yes

Jon Anderson of YesSongwriter Interviews

From the lake in "Roundabout" to Sister Bluebird in "Starship Trooper," Jon Anderson talks about how nature and spirituality play into his lyrics for Yes.

Rock Revenge Songs

Rock Revenge SongsMusic Quiz

John Lennon, Paul Simon and Lynyrd Skynyrd are some of the artists who have written revenge songs. Do you know who they wrote them about?